3.6 Urban conservation
3.6.5 Land-use conflicts
During the pre-industrial period, when urbanisation and consumption rates were still low, ecosystems were managed as common pool resources with very little intervention from governments (MEA, 2005). However, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (2008) asserts that since the industrial revolution there has been rising demand for land, minerals, and fossil fuels to meet the needs for settlement, food, clothing and energy, among others. Consequently, most of the ecosystems were transferred to private property thereby alienating communities previously dependent on the ecosystems without resources to use (MEA, 2005). The MEA (2005) and Peltonen and Sairinen (2010) assert that ecosystem change, which may result in ecosystem degradation, induced by one or more drivers of change profits one group over another. In most cases, the groups of people negatively affected by ecosystem change include children, women and, indigenous and poor communities (MEA, 2005). These groups lack the capacity to adapt to ecosystem changes due to lack of economic resources to find alternatives to the disturbed livelihoods (MEA, 2005).
For most Africans the natural environment is a source of livelihood and thus, availability of natural resources and sustainability is critical to their survival (Kok et al., 2009). Power struggles over access and control of natural resources emanate from increasing demand for natural resources caused by growing global populations, ecosystem degradation and overexploitation (Díaz et al., 2006).
However, power struggles can exclude the ‘weak’ in society from accessing resources and have the potential of causing conflict (Díaz et al., 2006; Kok et al., 2009). The weak in society are the vulnerable and according to Bob et al. (2014), Africans make up the most of the vulnerable globally as a result of reliance on climate affected resources. Vulnerability is an underlying factor to natural resource conflicts and is caused by growing population, climate change with its associated impacts and scarcity of resources (Ahmed, 2010; Bob and Brankhorst, 2010).
Climate change is seen as exacerbating the socio-economic and political factors that cause conflict in communities (Bob et al., 2014). Usually, conflict emanates from a clash of interest and value over use of natural resources among interest groups, whose actions affect the ability of other groups to use the resources (Castro and Nielson, 2003; Yasmi et al., 2006; Bob and Brankhorst, 2010: 14). As such, climate and the environment have become important aspects for understanding the causes and possible solutions to conflict (Bob et al., 2014; Kok et al., 2009). However, researchers have shown that conflict can be caused by other factors such as ethnic rivalry (Buhaung, 2010; Sunga, 2011). Bob and Brankhorst (2010) highlight some of the types of conflicts to include, among others;
Biodiversity conflicts which include natural resource management, biodiversity and conservation, rights over the use of biodiversity such as patents;
Conflicts disproportionately affecting women, that is, conflicts that affect women more than males due to their vulnerability in society;
Conflicts about air quality and noxious pollutants which relates to conflicts emanating from infringement of people’s rights to live in a healthy environment;
Land conflicts which arise from land-use contestations, scarcity of land and presence of key resources on land;
Water conflicts which considers conflicts which may arise with the eminent shortages of water predicted to result from climate change; and,
Climate change and environmental conflicts which considers conflicts emanating from the impact of climate change in relation to the socio-economic inequalities that may rise or are arising;
Land-use conflicts are particularly important because land harbours resources and conflicts over a given parcel of land can arise from conflicting use of resources such as biodiversity or the land itself (Kok et al., 2009). This is reiterated by the DEAT (2005: 23):
Many important biodiversity areas overlap with areas of high population density, high agricultural potential, mineral deposits and scenic beauty important for tourism. This can lead to conflicts regarding decisions over land-use allocations and underscores the need for extensive consultation regarding land-use changes, and the need to set aside areas considered irreplaceable for biodiversity conservation and important for ecosystem services.
Further, Vejre (2008) asserts that urban areas are characterised by various extensive land-use which transform urban ecosystems into semi-permanent constructed structures at the core, and limit growth within the urban bounds. Consequently, peri-urban areas become areas of resort for expansion of urban areas and for other activities such as conservation, agriculture and garbage dumping (Vejre, 2008; Arha et al., 2014). The many demands placed on peri-urban areas and the global trends of urbanisation are realities that make peri-urban areas critical for environmental conservation and development (Ahra et al., 2014). The many purposes peri-urban areas serve and general scarcity of land in urban areas become underlying factors for land-use conflicts in urban areas (Vejre, 2008; Kok et al., 2009). Land scarcity can be contextualised in three ways: firstly, land becomes scarce because of demands for the resource. That is, the number of competing land-uses can exert a strain on land available to meet land-use needs which render land scarce (Percival and Homer-Dixon, 1998). In addition, Percival and Homer-Dixon (1998: 5) states that “population growth within a region or increased per capita consumption” can escalate demand for land resources. Secondly, land scarcity can result from unequal distribution among various economic or racial groups (Percival and Homer- Dixon, 1998). This situation in South Africa, as indicated earlier, was induced by colonial and apartheid laws that mainly restricted land ownership in urban areas to the white dominant class (at the time) (Gordon et al., 2007). Despite the efforts by the post-apartheid government to redistribute land, Gordon et al. (2007) state that inequalities persist and a new form of capitalistic induced scarcity has emerged. Lastly, environmental problems that reduce the ability of a given piece of land to function optimally reduce the amount of productive land available for the various competing land-uses and can cause conflict (Percival and Homer-Dixon, 1998; Kok et al., 2009). Such environmental problems include overexploitation, degradation, desertification, invasion by alien species and climate change (Kok et al., 2009). As the laws of economics dictate that ‘when supply is low, demand is high’, this further induces scarcity (Franco, 2014). The three contexts of scarcity can act together in two forms:
resource capture and ecological marginalisation.
Resource capture occurs when increased consumption of a resource combines with its degradation: powerful groups within society - anticipating future shortages - shift resource distribution in their favour, subjecting the remaining population to scarcity. Ecological marginalisation occurs when increased consumption of a resource combines with structural inequalities in distribution: denied access to enough of the resource, weaker groups migrate to ecologically fragile regions that subsequently become degraded.
(Percival and Homer-Dixon, 1998: 5)
Given the complexities associated with urban land-use and scarcity, Vejre (2008) states that urban areas require highly formalised and efficient land-use planning systems. Formalisation of land-use planning and management means that urban land-use is subject to various decision-making processes
and, as such, conflicts arising from discordant uses can be political (Von der Dunk et al., 2011; Koubi et al., 2013).
According to Gordon et al. (2007) land-use conflicts in urban areas are exacerbated by widespread poverty and lack of employment opportunities for most of the poor inhabitants of peri-urban areas.
Because they have no resources to acquire their own land, these inhabitants invade private or restricted areas (land earmarked for other uses) mainly for settlement or earning a livelihood from the natural environment (DEAT, 2006; Gordon et al., 2007). Thus land use conflicts are instigated by competing uses of resources in the peri-urban areas (Darly and Torre, 2013). On the other hand, land- use conflicts among stakeholders arise when there are negative externalities associated with the proposed land-use (Von der Dunk et al., 2011). A study by Von der Dunk et al. (2011: 149) identified the types of land-use negative externalities which are usually the cause of conflict to include “noise pollution, visual blight, health hazard, nature conservation, preservation of the past, and changes to the neighbourhood.” These externalities are interlinked through a ‘causal-effect’ relationship: one externality can lead to another; for example, nature conservation can lead to health related issues (Von der Dunk et al., 2011).
Generally, conflicts reveal dysfunction of the socio-political and economic structures in society (Darly and Torre, 2013). Within the state of dysfunction, the actual issue causing disagreement but maybe hidden in secondary issues and this calls for careful examination of the issues causing conflict and further investigation of whether there are other underlying issues causing conflict (Von der Dunk et al., 2011). For instance, stakeholders can complain of crime as a negative externality of developing a park when in actual sense they are contesting changes to the neighbourhood. Part of this study assesses contestations and possible conflicts arising in the GGEP project and the relationships existing between the GGEP management and property owners and, the GGEP management and the Tshelimnyama community.
Further, conflicts at a global, regional or local scale affect ecosystem health and degraded ecosystems cannot support development (AEO 2, 2006). In addition, Perry et al. (2010) assert that conflicts can cause degradation of the environment ultimately affecting the livelihoods of people dependent on the environment. At a global and regional scale conflicts take the form of political civil unrests and wars while at a local scale conflicts arise due to disputes arising from unequal distribution of resources (Bob et al., 2014). Individuals, groups, or leaders dispute over control of resources while the underprivileged in society fight for their right to equality in accessing resources (Bob and Bronkhorst, 2010). Although widely perceived to be destructive and/ or a state to be avoided, conflict expressed non-violently is universal, and without conflict, societies would stagnate (Pillay, 2009; White et al., 2009). Management of conflict therefore becomes necessary and important in reducing the negative
effects of conflict (White et al., 2009). According to the AEO 2 (2006), conflict can be overcome by harnessing equity in natural resource allocation, social justice, involvement of society in policy development and promoting peace through tolerance of differences among people in society.